


In the Company of a Swallow

by GreyMemories



Series: The Swallow of Middle Earth [1]
Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, Wiedźmin | The Witcher (Video Game), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Adventure, All the LOTR jokes in Witcher 2 finally got to me, Angst, Eventual Romance, F/M, Witcher/Hobbit crossover, but with who?, long fic, so I had to write a fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-01-31
Packaged: 2018-09-21 07:06:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,889
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9537185
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyMemories/pseuds/GreyMemories
Summary: While on the run from the wild hunt, Avallac'h sends Ciri to a place where he knows she'll be safe, Middle Earth. He instructed her to find the elves in Imladris and wait for him there. However, things turn out differently. Ciri finds herself the company of Thorin Oakenshield on a quest to take back the mountain of Erebor from the dragonThe company have a burglar and a wizard, perhaps they also need a witcher.





	

In the company of a Swallow

 

On a snowy hilltop overlooking a solid ocean that extended far beyond the view of the human eye as two moons shined brilliantly over the frozen water, the sound of monstrous growls disrupted the picturesque nature of the scene.

An ashen haired woman stood with a steel sword in hand, that cut through the beasts that came close to her, panted heavily as the realization of defeat dawned in her mind. The glowing blue of the gateway to another world glimmered far in the distance, Ciri’s stomach lurched as she suddenly fell to the ground. There were more coming, they wouldn’t make it to the gateway before Eredin, the king of the wild hunt, reached them.

He would finally have her.

“Ciri! You must move” Avallac’hs’ voice commanded above her. The elven sages hand reached behind her head and lifted her into a sitting position before forcing her to her feet. A pained wince escaped the sages mouth as Ciri rested her weight onto his shoulder.

“I will show you where…to go” His free hand reached out and brushed the middle of her forehead, a tingling sensation followed as a picture of another world entered her mind. A familiar warmth soared through her body and left her all too quickly as she went over the sage’s words.

“Aren’t you coming with?” her eyes widened as she realized his intent.

“I will hold them off and will follow as soon as I am able” his tone was infuriatingly calm. It was the same tone he used when he decided he had enough of arguing which always resulted in her doing what he said.

How could he think of doing this!? Now of all times! Eredin would kill him surely for betraying him all those months ago.

“Avallac’h you can’t!” Ciri shirked in desperation “You’ll be killed!”

“Do not doubt my abilities Zireael. Now go, I will meet you in Imladris, you will be safe there” The use of her elven given name caused Ciri to choke on her words. The name had an effect on her that she couldn’t shake, especially when her elven sage used it.

“And what about you? You won’t be safe and you won’t know when the next portal will open, you could be trapped!” Ciri hated herself for how small she sounded. She had left everything behind once the hunt began its tireless pursuit of her. Geralt and Yennefer, the two people who she regarded as her parents, Dandelion’s ballads, Zoltan’s card games and Triss’s sisterly gossip sessions.

Avallac’h, though not the most entertaining of travel companions, or the nicest, was the one thing that stood between her and the hunt.

He was her…...friend?

She doubted that was what they were, despite being on the run together for months on end.

Her protector was the closest thing she could think of. He was the one who clutched her from the cold grasp of Eredin and spirited her away from the hunt and kept her safe. She still didn’t know what he wanted from it though. Perhaps he was doing this from the kindness of his own heart, yet Yennefer warned her that an Elven Sage always had a hidden agenda.

That didn’t matter to Ciri, he was willing to risk his life for her, he had her complete trust.

“Avallac’h please…” she whispered.

Grey eyes latched firmly onto the woman’s green ones. They glistened slightly, cold and metallic, rivalling the most excellently polished suit of armour. They were always so guarded, even now.

“Zireael, I won’t ask again” he whispered and took hold of her hands. A confused glint appeared in her eyes but disappeared when he placed her sword in her hand and turned and walked towards the valley where the sound the howls of frozen hounds echoed. His stance was rigid as he waited.

Like every argument they had, he won, again.

That was it. She had to go and it was now or never. The howls of the beasts were becoming more clear with each second. Gritting her teeth, she turned around to face the hill and prayed to whatever god that could hear her in this world as she sheathed her sword on her back.

“I better see you in Imladris old man” she called softly before she dashed to the hill, knowing that his elven ears heard her words.

So, she ran. Despite the way her right leg protested and despite how heavy her sword felt to her, she ran.

Cold wind whipped the stray stands of hair across her face and she could feel the tie holding her hair up falling out of place until it left her hair completely loose. As she ascended the snowy slope, each footstep became harder. The snow was deeper closer to the top, causing her feet to be submerged in it. It was slowing her down and the light from the portal was becoming more transparent.

Soon she would have nowhere to go.

_Enough!_

At a cry of frustration, she surged forward, casting herself into the air as blue light spun from her frosted fingers. With a blink, the world shred around her and she was enveloped in a blue light that rushed her spaces ahead, yards away from the swirling pool of light.

She tumbled from the rip in the sky, leaving an imprint of her body on the hill, like the ones she used to make at Kaer Morhan.

She awkwardly rolled to her knees and pushed herself upwards. She was so close to the portal that she could feel the magic pouring off it like waves.

A wave of magic rushed ahead of her. It was so powerful she gasped as it washed over her senses. The air before her blurred, a whistling whisper, and she skidded to a halt as the world ripped for a second time.

Holding a staff, the large figure stepped coolly from the tear, with a grace that she could only envy. The figure was adorned in the familiar black, skeletal armor and mask of the Wild Hunt that emitted an ethereal mist that chilled her to her bones. If she had not known better she would have thought this to be a form of a spectre that had risen from the grave.

Despite the mask, she knew who was under the skeletal form.

Caranthir, mage to the king of the hunt.

As far as she could tell, Eredin kept close council with his brute of a general Imlerith and his mage, Caranthir. Where one was, the other two were close behind.

Her hand reached to her back and unsheathed her sword with a metallic hiss and held the weapon with both hands. She would not loose, Caranthir would not drag her back to Eredin.

 “Caed'mil, Zireael” the elf behind the mask spoke. Ice crawled through her veins at the distorted voice that came through the mask and she gripped her weapon tighter. She held the blade even, a perfect, undaunted horizon _“always level with the nose”_ , just as Geralt had taught her. This only caused the Aen Elle elf to laugh.

“Come now Zireael, I do not wish to fight you. You will come with me and we will end this hunt. Eredin will be pleased to see you” Caranthir stretched out his metallic hand towards her and beckoned her forward with his fingers.

“And what will happen then? I will be dragged back to Tir nà Lia and we all live happily ever after?” she spat

Again, the mage chuckled dark and low “You will go wherever Eredin wants you to go, dh’oine” the last word he spat almost as if it was dirty.

A blast and shouts echoed behind her, it seemed Avallac’h had his hands full. That and they were running out of time.

Ciri growled in frustration and stepped back into position. “You are right about one thing Caranthir, we will end this hunt, here and now”

“Glaeddyv vort, beanna. Before you hurt yourself” Caranthir lifted his staff out of the ground, the sharped bottom of the staff reflected the light of the diminishing power of the portal. The other hand rose and removed his mask.

The Aen Elle were an attractive people, they had high cheek bones, skin like smooth marble and haunting light eyes that had a sensitivity that humans could not dream of, and Caranthir was no exception.

“Me a'baeth aep arse” Ciri smirked and rushed forward.

The young woman was small compared to the colossal size of the elf but she was agiler and faster while the weight of the skeletal armor would surely slow the mage down.

However, Caranthir acted sooner than she expected and she just managed to stall the elf’s swift strike, but watched a wretched grin split the elf’s lips as her blade shivered under the brutality of his compelling strength, another trait of the Aen Elle.

“Blath baeg, I will enjoy this” he crooned, pressing closer to her face. The blade flashed as he brought it over his head and grinned when he brought it down.

She hurled her weight on her right foot and the world shifted around her as she stepped around the mage and swung her sword to his side. She was met with steel and was forced backwards.

Her opponent charged with a mighty cry. Ciri dodged to the side in one fluid move, though her enemy was quick to swivel in her direction. His crystalline eyes became menacing, akin to that of a starved wolf. The elf thrust his staff forward, only to be met by Ciri's sword. Both swords met in the air with a resounding 'clang'. Later if she was still alive and free, she would look back at this moment and laugh at the surprised face Caranthir made when she deflected his move.

_That’ll teach you to underestimate me_

Their swords gleamed in the moon light as they danced around each other. Ciri feigned to the right then pushed her weight to the left and pirouette. Before she could turn and catch Caranthir in the side, a sudden gush of pain jolted throughout Ciri’s body. Her stomach ached and her arms lost tension.

Caranthir was not in front of her but behind, and his sword had pierced through her side. The ice on his sword made her insides shriek in pain as he pulled out and Ciri dropped to her knees.  

The dark chuckle of her opponent echoed behind her. Her tongue was soaked in the taste of blood.

“It is time Zireael, though it was a fun diversion” his shadow loomed over her as he walked to her side and looked down at her hunched form, a satisfied smirk resting on his face. Ciri locked eyes on the mage as she coughed blood onto the white ground, only a few feet in front of the portal.

No, this is not how this will end.

The portals light had diminished greatly, she had only seconds.

She clenched her hands into fists. With limited energy, she moved without thought and lifted a hand and conjured a bolt of energy.

Caranthir’s eyes widened in shock, but he blocked the force of her sudden energy outburst with his staff before it could blast him back, but his legs buckled with the sudden action.

_"He will not get the better of me,"_ she thought. Bruised, bleeding, with only an ounce of energy left, she took advantage of his loss of balance and grabbed the foot of the elf and pulled him to the ground. Her head was pounding. She brought a fist to the mages face, and heard the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking.

It took her a moment to stagger to her feet, her left hand gripped her wound tightly as she surged forward. She felt the metal fingers of Caranthir brush her leg to grab it and it only pushed her faster. Each step was like walking on burning coals but she didn’t stop, she couldn’t.

The light of the portal was slowly diminishing but when she reached forward with her hand she was sucked into the warm current of energy that cradled her to a new world where she could be safe.

The warm feeling only lasted for a few moments before she emerged into the darkness of a crumbled ruin. Her only light source faded away when the portal dissolved, leaving her lying on a stone floor.

As much as she wanted to lie there and let sleep take over, she knew she could not stay. Portals could be tricky and she couldn’t risk escaping Eredin only to have him trample over her if he came through. It would be too easy to lie there.

Ciri rose unsteadily to her feet, her head pounding and her mouth feeling as though it was full of lead. Though she felt drained, she forced herself to keep breathing and to keep her eyes open, despite how tired she was.

However determined she was to move on with her journey, her feet wobbled and buckled underneath her after five steps before they eventually gave up all together.

The ground rumbled after her impact and the world rushed by in a blur and Ciri knew that she was in for more pain as she hurtled downwards. The air pushed passed her face, she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.

* * *

 

The trio descended further into the dark foliage, cautious of their footfalls on twigs and dry leaves as they crept silently towards the light in the distance. Bilbo’s hands clutched the wooden bowls in his hands tightly and winced sharply as some of the hot gravy spilled over the side of the bowl and onto his fingertips.

He received identical annoyed expressions from the dwarf brothers and quickly discarded the bowls carefully onto a tree stump.

_We’ll come back for them later,_ the hobbit thought as he sucked the remaining gravy off his palm.

Before they could reach the light, a clamorous thud sounded in front of them. Bilbo felt the collar of his coat grasped before he was hauled back behind a bush as a tree was pushed aside by a large hand and landed in front of them. Bilbo covered his mouth quickly to catch the shriek that escaped him.

The footfalls of the giant creature crushed everything in its path, leaving a clear trail to where it was heading.

Grasped tightly in the right hand of the troll struggled two ponies. The pair nickered and kicked furiously to no avail as the troll held them tighter in his grasp.

“He’s got Myrtle and Minty!” The hobbit exclaimed as he watched the vicious beast carry away his favourite pony. The burglar could only imagine what he was going to do to his dear beast.

“That’s not all he’s got! Look!” Fili croaked and pointed to the trolls left hand. Bilbo’s face drained of its natural rosy colour as he followed the direction of Fili’s finger.

Dangling limply from the hand of the troll was a woman. The plump fingers of the troll held her loosely around her middle as if he was certain that she wouldn’t run away. The woman looked like a doll in the hands of a baby.

A very large baby.

Her ashen hair was waving in front of her face, hiding her features, making it difficult for Bilbo to figure out if she was alive or….

Bilbo grimaced and stopped his trail of thought. He didn’t have the heart to think of the fate of the ashen haired woman.

“I think they’re going to eat them! We have to do something!” Bilbo frantically exclaimed to the brothers.

“Yes!” Kili shot up suddenly and moved around his brother, who was staring intently at the troll, to push Bilbo ahead “You should! Mountain trolls are slow and stupid and you’re so small they’d never see you!”

“What? Me?” Bilbo tried to protest against the young dwarfs pushing and planted his hairy feet into the ground.

“Kili’s right” Fili said and stood beside his brother, smiling encouragingly “We’ll be right behind you and if you run into trouble, hoot once like a barn owl and twice like a brown owl” he quickly shoved Bilbo forward and the hobbit could only continue the path he was being made to take. He repeated Fili’s advice in his head like a prayer.

_Once like a barn owl, twice like a brown owl_

_Once like a barn owl, twice like a brown owl…._

_What was the difference?_

He suddenly stopped at the last thought. He looked behind him to question his companions but much to his disappointment they were nowhere to be seen. A curse that he had learned from Bofur almost spilled from his mouth had he not quickly caught it. Despite travelling through the wild, he was still the respectable hobbit that left Bag End, nothing was about to change that.

Although he couldn’t imagine any hobbit, respectable or not, venturing into a trolls den.

Watching as the lumbering troll stomped into the clearing ahead, Bilbo summoned up every ounce of courage that he had and followed behind the foul-smelling beast, hoping he could save the companies ponies and the ashen haired woman from becoming troll food.

**Author's Note:**

> Okie dokie! first chapter up. This story has been nagging at me for a while, so I finally stayed up until 2am to actually write it, even though I have a 9am class tomorrow. 
> 
> Translation of Elder Speech 
> 
> 1) Caed'mil, Zireael - Hello, Swallow  
> 2) Glaeddyv vort, beanna - Put down the sword, woman  
> 3) Me a'baeth aep arse - Kiss my ass  
> 4) Blath Baeg - Small flower


End file.
